Boycott the Russian Winter Olympics! ПОШЕЛ ТЫ РОССИЯ

In recent years there has been increased hostility against sexual minorities in Russia. Attempts to celebrate an annual Pride Parade have been treated with the same suspicion that other countries treat terrorism and now a "non-traditional relationships propaganda" bill has passed, which will criminalize any positive references to homosexuality and any expression of gay-friendliness.

A recent push by global human rights organizations for a boycott of the Russian Olympics not only stands on moral ground but also argues that any gay athletes that compete in Russia will have to face the possibility of arrest and, possibly, torture in the hostile climate that Russian authorities have created, which is reminiscent of recent efforts in that other homophobic shithole, Uganda, to approve the 'Kill the Gays Bill'.

not sure how one can effectively challenge this. But I read of one athlete from New Zealand who fears for his life and is re-considering participation.

This reminds me of when in Nigeria they had to cancel the Miss Universe pageant some years back because there was a pending case of Amina Nawal, who was going to be stoned to death in the north for adultery (sex out of wedlock) after her husband got her pregnant and divorced her.

In shari'a law, a husband can divorce his wife by saying 'I Divorce You' three times. Like that. Hocus pocus i divorce you :-)

There were extremist muslims who were threatening violence if Miss Universe was held there because naked women were immoral and they're such a holy fucking country ... also there were contestants who were thinking of boycotting the event because of the Amina Nawal scandal.

Amina Nawal ended up having to take refuge in another country, as I remember ...

and the pageant was held in the UK that year. Would it be so bad to request a change of the location of the winter olympics?

The fact is that Russia is about as much a democracy as Venezuela was under Chavez (and probably continues to be). What Putin wants, Putin gets, and if he has a mad on about gays and Lesbians, his whim becomes the law, pretty much. He is about as likely to listen to protests about matters at this level as he is to indulge in cross-dressing.

As I said, a boycott didn't work for the Moscow 1980 Summer Games and I don't see such an action working now.

Napoleon, that is a very thoughtful suggestion. As much as I hate seeing what is happening in Russia regarding the above-listed issues, and my total lack of general interest in sporting events, there must be a better and more effective way to correct these wrongs rather than through a boycott of the Olympics.